How I Got Rid of a Mice In My Van

Feb. 22, 2021

After over a year in my van and after reaching another city, Orlando, FL, I realized that I might have picked up a mice in my van.

I had reflectix under my bed so a couple of times, I thought it was raining outside, but found out instead something was walking on the reflectix.

Shortly after buying the van when I was in Houston, one night after Stealth Camping and dosing off to sleep, I had heard a mice in the van then. However, because the Van was so new and clean, the mice jumped out after one night.

The goal is to keep the van clean and your food in an airtight container. I had made it a point not to park near dumpsters, where these critters hang out, but they had still made their way into my van for the second time.

The first thing I did was to stop and just clean out everything. I did find a couple of pieces of rotten fruit such as an apple and watermelon, which might have attracted them in the first place, so it is important to account for everything – every piece of food — that you bring in your van.

If something falls on the floor in your van – make sure you retrieve it and start looking throughout your van every week or two to take inventory of everything you have in there.

I had done this practice since buying the van, however, because I was passing into a cold city and area, Atlanta, I had stopped looking through everything.

Once I heard the mice walking on the reflectix, I had found droppings (urine) on a stack of toilet tissue and paper towels – that I had stacked on one side. So I believe I had made myself a target by carrying so many of these items in my van.

Once I threw everything out – I cleaned out everything and now I can see all the way under my queen-sized bed.

I took three (3) steps specifically to get rid of the mice in my van and ensure that it stays out:

-First of all, I put out a bowl of cotton balls containing peppermint essential oil. If mice can’t smell they feel they are in danger and that is also how they find food so they have to be able to smell.

-Secondly, I bought Irish Spring soap – cut it in half, and placed it in every corner of my van. Again, the soap will block their ability to smell.

-Thirdly, I bought the Mice/Rat Glue traps from Home Depot and put peanut butter instead of cheese in the middle of it.

So far, I believe all these methods have been working in my van after I heard a mice or two in my van one night. I believe they did the job and again, I have a ‘peace of mind’ as I travel with my #VanLife.